Wednesday, 25 June 2014

We are about to go away on holidays for a few weeks to Vanuatu! Before I leave Sydney's horrible cold, windy weather behind, I thought I would share with you a lovely little recipe that is good for all year round :) As you know, I LOVE gravlax. I am a latecomer to seafood, and it definitely took me a while to get the hang of raw fish! I think what I love about gravlax is that it combines the beautiful subtle flavours that work so well with fish, with a certain bacony-meaty-ness that is just oh so good...After our beetroot experiments, we decided to have a go using different flavours to cure the salmon. I love the flavour of raspberries - that sweet and sharp taste goes well with so many foods! The raspberry colours the salmon beautifully, with a delicate pink tinge.

Photo courtesy of Kiah Westlund

I also love the visual of the salmon fillets bathing in that stunning pink soup!

Without further delay, the Raspberry Citrus Gravlax recipe! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------RECIPE: RASPBERRY CITRUS GRAVLAXServes manyIngredients1 whole salmon, filleted, skinned and pinboned (ask your fishmonger to do this for you!)500g frozen raspberries250g rock salt170g raw sugar1 tbsp mixed peppercornsZest of 2 lemonsZest of 2 oranges1 bunch of dill60ml vodkaMethod1. In a food processor, combine all ingredients except salmon, and whizz until smooth. Pour into a large baking dish that will fit both halves of the salmon and leave on the bench to defrost.2. Snuggle your salmon fillets into the raspberry mix and make sure they are covered all over. Cover with clingwrap right to the surface of the cure to try and keep the air away from the curing meat. Put in the fridge.3. After 24 hours, turn the salmon fillets over in the cure and stir the raspberry mix around. There should be a fair amount of juice come out of the salmon, and you want to mix that into the raspberry cure so that the salt can stay close to the meat.4. After another 24 hours, take the salmon out of the cure and rinse really well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towel or a clean tea towel, and wrap tightly in cling wrap. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.5. To serve, slice the gravlax as thin as you can (with a very sharp knife)! It's great with cream cheese, lemon and dill on some lovely rye bread, but try it however you like! Enjoy!

Monday, 23 June 2014

One of my favourite recipes is Tarte Flambee or Flammkuchen as it is called in German. It's such a quick and wonderful recipe at the same time. We really like to make it when we have friends over, for dinner with wine and so on.

Usually we make the traditional version with onions and bacon, but sometimes we experiment too. These are the results of our experiments. Note: The dough is always the same.

Recipe: Tarte FlambeePreheat the oven to 230°CImportant: Tarte Flambee should be baked with the grill function on (no fan forced!) and on the lowest ray. Dough250 grams plain flour125ml water2 tablespoons vegetable oil1 teaspoon saltAdd all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. I usually knead by hand.Roll as flat as possible. This is enough dough for one baking tray or 7 little ones (like on the photos).ToppingsNo 1 - The Traditional One200 grams Schmand200 grams Quark(Note: People outside Germany will have problems getting these ingredients. You can use a mixture of double cream and creme fraiche instead)Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix well and put on the flat dough. Note: This mix is usually enough for two Tartes Flambee. You can use all the cream but I reckon it's too heavy.

2-3 onions, chopped and braised100-150 grams chopped bacon

Scatter the onions and the bacon over the cream on the dough.

Put the baking tray into the preheated oven and bake for about 16 minutes. Note: If you are making small pieces instead of a large one, reduce the time.

No 2 - The Almost Traditional One

200 grams Schmand200 grams Quark(Note: People outside
Germany will have problems getting these ingredients. You can use a
mixture of double cream and creme fraiche instead)Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix
well and put on the flat dough. Note: This mix is usually enough for
two Tarte Flambee. You can use all the cream but I reckon it's too
heavy.

2 bunches of spring onions, chopped100-150 grams chopped bacon

Scatter the spring onions and the bacon over the cream on the dough.

Put
the baking tray into the preheated oven and bake for about 16 minutes.
Note: If you are making small pieces instead of a large one, reduce the
time.

No 3 - The Salmon One

200 grams Schmand200 grams Quark(Note: People outside
Germany will have problems getting these ingredients. You can use a
mixture of double cream and creme fraiche instead)Salt and Pepper to taste2-3 Teaspoons of Dill-Mustard-Sauce

Mix
well and put on the flat dough. Note: This mix is usually enough for
two Tarte Flambee. You can use all the cream but I reckon it's too
heavy.

2 bunches of spring onions, chopped150-200 grams frozen or fresh salmon (if frozen: defrost before you use it)Parmesan to taste

Scatter the spring onions and the salmon over the cream on the dough.

Put
the baking tray into the preheated oven and bake for about 16 minutes.
Note: If you are making small pieces instead of a large one, reduce the
time.

Sunday, 22 June 2014

I finally (!!) finished my corner to corner rainbow throw. I showed you some snippets of it here and actually finished the first version around the same time. Unfortunatly, I made a HUGE mistake...

Somewhere in the middle I decreased too much which resulted in an ugly bend on one side. I was so upset I didn't even take pictures of it... Some people said, one wouldn't notice but trust me: I would!

And soooo... I undid 48 rows of 16 different colours... I could have cried!

After that, the blanket stayed in a box for some weeks until I go back to it about 3 weeks ago. Now that it's finished (and man, there were tons of little end to be sewn in), I am really happy I undid part of the first version.

Thursday, 19 June 2014

On MasterChef last week, one of the contestants cooked chocolate pasta, and totally converted the judges to the cause. It looked so delicious, we instantly decided we had to try it! Of course, once the pasta machine is cracked out of the box, it only makes sense to make a big batch of at least two different kinds of pasta, so we made tomato and herb fettuccine as well ;) I'll put the recipes below, but here are some pictures from the experiments! All the pictures are courtesy of the amazing Bec Sellars, my partner in pasta crime.

I'd love to know if any of our readers try making these pasta recipes! Post photos in the comments![Edited to Add: I forgot to say before that it was all SO TASTY and we are still finding it difficult to stop eating the dried chocolate pasta off the clothesline, and the house is beautifully scented with chocolate.] First, the tomato and herb fettuccine:

Lovely kneaded pasta dough :)

The dough balls having a rest in the fridge

The pile of rolled and cut fettuccine

Going into the water...

The delicious sauce - bacon, zucchini, mushrooms and cream

Mmmm dishing up

And now for the chocolate ravioli:

Started off with a raspberry champagne coulis!

Melting chocolate for the pasta dough

Such a glorious colour!

Rolling rolling rolling

Flower ravioli! We decided pretty quickly that this shape was too hard and just made circles.

The finished product!

We made too much chocolate dough, so some got hung up as fettuccine and spaghetti to dry :)

I hope you enjoyed these photos! Recipes below:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------RECIPE: TOMATO AND HERB FETTUCINEAdapted from "Pasta", edited by Valerie Ferguson400g "00" flourpinch of salt3 eggs30ml olive oil60ml tomato paste90ml chopped fresh herbs (we used equal quantities of parsley, chives and pizza thyme)Extra flour for dustingMethod:1. Put flour, salt and herbs in the bowl of a food processor. Process until well mixed and the herbs are chopped down as much as possible.2. In a measuring jug mix together the eggs, olive oil and tomato paste. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the food processor while it is running. Mix until the dough starts to form (it'll make lots of little wet balls).3. Flour a clean work surface. Tip the dough mix out onto the surface and knead until the mixture comes together in a smooth, elastic dough, which springs back if you poke it with your finger :) Divide the dough in half, and roll each half into a smooth ball. Wrap well in cling wrap and put into the refrigerator for 40 minutes to rest.4. Using a pasta machine (or a rolling pin, if you need a full body work out), roll out the pasta to very thin (we went to the 6th notch on the pasta machine), and then use the fettuccine attachment to cut into strips. Toss well with flour to stop the pasta strands sticking together.5. Bring a large pot of water to the boil, with small handful of salt. Once it is at a rolling boil, drop the pasta in and stir well. It should be cooked in about 3 minutes, but keep testing after 2 minutes in case you prefer it done a bit more al dente! 6. Drain into a colander and rinse well with cold water to stop the cooking process. Then, either serve as is, or pour into your pasta sauce pan to thoroughly coat!---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------RECIPE: CHOCOLATE RAVIOLI WITH RASPBERRY CHAMPAGNE COULISAdapted from who8thebean's recipe on Instructables PASTA160 grams dark chocolate
roughly chopped
¼ cup thickened cream
3 cups “00” flour
½ cup Dutch cocoa powder
½ cup icing sugar
2 pinches finely ground black pepper
2 pinches salt
4 eggs

EXTRAS• 1 egg lightly whisked for sealing ravioli closed
• ½ - ¾ cup raspberries extra needed for stuffing the ravioliMethod:Coulis1. Set a small saucepan
on the stove and add raspberries, sugar, champagne and vinegar. Simmer over low
heat, stirring until sugar dissolves and the raspberries become soft and pulpy.
Set aside to cool.Ravioli filling2. Set a mixing bowl
over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Be careful not to allow the water to
touch the bottom of the mixing bowl. Add the white chocolate melts and half of
the thick cream. Stir continuously until chocolate is melted and the mixture is
smooth. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.3. Meanwhile, whisk together the mascarpone, vanilla and remaining cream.4. When your chocolate mixture has cooled for about 2-3 minutes gently whisk it
into the mascarpone and cream mixture and ensure that it is well combined.
Cover and set aside in the refrigerator to chill.

Pasta

5. Place the dark chocolate and
cream into a mixing bowl over gently simmering water and melt, stirring. Once melted, set aside to cool slightly.

6. Place flour, cocoa powder, icing sugar, pepper and salt in the food processor
bowl and turn it on.

7. Add eggs, one at a time.

8. As the dough begins to come together add your melted chocolate and cream
mixture and continue mixing until a firm but pliable dough is formed.

9. Now pull your dough out onto a lightly floured surface and give it a good kneading until it is smooth and soft. Cover and set aside for 30
minutes in the fridge to allow the gluten to relax.

Putting it all together!10. Once your pasta has rested, cut it
into 4 portions and run it through the pasta press folding and repeating the
process 2 or 3 times before gradually reducing the setting. We decided on a very thin ravioli, and went to 8 on the pasta machine settings. This
should give you a nice thin sheet of chocolate lasagna.

11. Take a cookie or scone cutter and cut circles in the dough.

12. Place a small teaspoon of the mascarpone mixture onto each ravioli and press a raspberry piece gently into the centre. Don't overstuff them, or it'll be easier for them to burst open during cooking!

13. Using a pastry brush or your fingers, spread a very small amountof egg wash around
each mound of stuffing – this will help the pasta to seal shut during cooking.

14. Take another circle of pasta and press down gently all around the
filling and try to expel any air from the ravioli.

16. Bring a medium pot of water to the boil. Using a slotted spoon lower the
parcels into the water one at a time for approximately 30 seconds.Remove from the boiling water and plunge into the
cold water briefly to prevent further cooking.

17. Serve with the raspberry coulis and any leftover mascarpone!---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blog people

Hi there! We are Michelle and Anne and we share this blog! We have been friends for ages even though we live in different sides of the world (Australia and Germany). We share a common passion which is crochet (hence the blog name) but we blog about Australia, Germany, food and other stuff we like too.